Rudder construction for towboats



C. E. WARD RUDDER CONSTRUCTION FOR TOW BOATS 2 Sheets-Sheei 1 Filed A ril 1925 [NV EN TOR Charles 1 1'. VIZ rd B Y ORNEY Nov. 3, 1925- 1, 0

c. E. WARD RUDDER consmucnou FOR TOW BOATS Filed April 8, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g k I I I v 2 INVENTOR Qkzr les 5'. 71 0111 Patented Nov. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATES Pars;

CHARLES E. WARD, OF CHARLESTON, WEST V'iRG-INIA, ASSIGNOR T0 CHARLES WARD ENGINEERING WORKS, OF CHARLESTON, WEST V'IIRGI'NIA, A 'GORPORAT 'ION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

RUBBER CONSTRU-GTION FOB T-OWBOA-TS.

Application filed April 8, 1925.

'1 0 all whom it may concern, v

Be it known that I, Crrnmjns E. h m, a citizen of the United States, residing at Charleston, in the county of 'Kanawha and State of lVest Virginia, have invented cer: tain n w nd u fu lmp wcm lit n Endder Constructions for Towboats; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will'enable others skilled in .the ant to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to rudder constructions for tow boats and has for its zobiect to provide a construction more efficient in use than those heretofore proposed.

these and other objects View, th

- invention consists in the -novel details of construction and combinatiens of par-ts more fully hereinafter ,disclosed' particularly pointed out in the claims. I

Referring to the drawings, forming a pant of this specification, which like numerals designate like par-ts in all the yiew zs Figure 1 is a diagrammatic ,top pla n view of the stern of a boat made in accordance with this invention Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional .view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l (and looking in the [direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is ti-transverse sectional View taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows Figure 9; is a diagrammatic top plan View similar to Fig. {l illustratinga modified form of the invention;

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic View showing the arrangement of parts when desired to more a :tow boat one direction and Figure 6 is agdiagra-mmatic ,similar to Fig. 5 illustrating the arrangement of [parts when desired to move the boat in ;a differentdirection. 7

A tow boat is generally indicated at 1 and comprises the main bottom 2, the sides 3., and

the stern 4. The main bottom 2 is substantially parallel with the gun-walesfi and the waterline indicated by the line 6, ,see Fig. 2.

Near the stern, the bottem 2 is inclined up-' wardly as indicated ,at 1-0 and is provided with a p ur l ty o tunnels o c mbers 11, as well understood in ships of thiseharacter and as clearly shown in the drawings. The

Serial No. 21,680.

bottom 10 in forming these tunnels 11 also forms a secondary bottom 12, as clearly P l l t t e f re aid Wa er ne e d ligh y h reb w- Th cr s sec o o the u nel 5. at th de p t p n ther of is e ru r and Within this circular formation are located the screw propellers 15 mounted on the shafts 1-6 and journaled as diagrammatically illush ated at 17in-the drawings, 'lhe propellers and th ir.sh f s-toge h wit the tu ls 11 associated therewith, are all ,so disposed relative to each other that each propeller 15 y will be located in a tunn 1, and hovethe m in b m 2 f th h at, zsee Pie Fur 13116134311191 rwp ll s l a e disea ed in wo n:

2 i Fig: i I a With special reference toFigs. Land .3,

" t w ll b ob e d that t er s rrw ded a p u y of rudders 1 wh se s ems or ax s 22 are located in the same transverse plane 20 with the propellers 5L5, andthatthe '7 sh wn 1 g-S- 2 nd-3, wh h i fw ltiallr mon ran r plane s rep e en d y the so spaced fromsaidstem 22 that the adjacent ends of the ,said rudders 2 1 and 25 will just pass each other when operated,see Figs. 1 and 2. Also ,the stem :26 of the rudder 25 located substantially in ,the same trans zerse plane, parallel to ,the plane 20, and passing through .the points 28 where the portions act the secondary bottom 12 meet the inclined, tt 0,. 1 th r Q E S,"Qh :S1E6m 26 (o the forward rudder 25 is-sirbstantially dis:

posed at the forward .end of each adjacent.

tunnel l1 fora P11113088 as will ,presently appear.

a l i t t r dd s-21 m the d mand edd r @257 M Qrke in u is nis I qs y, 1. 9 we of [these sudd n el he without turning to the same degree and in the same direction each of the other rudders of the ship, all being linked together in any well known and suitable Way, not shown. With special reference to Fig. 1, it will therefore be seen that when the tow boat 1 is moving in a direction straight ahead, the rudders 21 and will be in the positions shown in full lines, whereas when the course of the tow boat is changed, ail of the rudders 21 and 25 will be thrown to such positions for example as indicated by the thin dash lines 30.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Fig. 4;, the same construction-as illustrated in Fig. 1 has been followed, except for the addition of two extra forward rudders 25, each stem 26 thereof being located in the same longitudinal plane with the stems 22 of the rudders 21, and said stems 36 being in the same transverse plane with the stem 26 of the middle forward rud der 25. In other words, there has been added in the modified form two rudders, one on each side of the aforementioned rudder 25, so that there are provided triple longitudinally disposed pairs of rudders. As in the type illustrated in Fig. 1, the rudders of the modified form are likewise linked together in any well known manner (not shown) by means of which all the rudders are operated in unison.

WVith special reference to Fig. 5 wherein the propellers 15 are being revolved to force the water therefrom in the-direction of the small arrows, it will be seen that the boat 1 would be propelled forward or in the direction indicated by the large arrow. While traveling in this direction, if it is desired to change the course so as to swing the prow of the boat to starboard, or to the right, then the rudders 21 and 25 would be positioned as shown in Fig. 5, whereupon the stern 4 would be swung in the direction of the little arrow or to such a position as indicated by the dash line 10.

The reason for this will be readily seen, but may be stated as follows: When the rud ders are set as shown in said Figure 5, the water indicated by the line of arrows 41 will strike the obliquely disposed blades of the rudders with the tendency toward deflection therefrom, but as is well known, in this action, the boat would yield and therefore assume such a position as indicated at 40.

With reference to Fig. 6, practically the opposite of what has been said above takes place. That is to say, when the revolution of the propellers 15 is reversed so as to force the water therefrom in the direction of the short arrows 42, and the rudders 21 and 25 are set as shown, then the stern 3 would be given a flanking movement in the direct-ion of the small arrow whereupon said stern would assume a position as indicated by the dash line 45,. thus swinging'the boat in the opposite direction from that described in Fig. 5.

It has been found possible in a boat being propelled forward at full speed and provided with the construction above disclosed to reverse the propellers and turn the same full speed aft in order to swing the boat 1 in the direction desired without damage thereto.

The purpose of arranging the rudders 21 and 25 as above described is to form chan nels for the water passing said rudders With particular reference to Figs. 3, 1 and 5, it will be seen thatwhen the rudders are set for straight ahead, said rudders will form parallel channels disposed longitudinally of the boat and through which the water may pass. Stated in still other langauge the forward'star-board rudder 35, together with its cooperating aft rudder 21, forms a wall or partition. Likewise, the middle forward rudder 25 forms with its cooperating aft rudder 21, another Wall which with the aforementioned wall forms a water channel such as is indicated at 50 in Fig. 3. In a similar manner the opposite outward or port pair of rudders 21 and 35 forms a wall of the channel 51, see Fig. 3, of which the middle pair of rudders 21 and 35 con-' stitutes the other wall.

When' the rudders are put hard over or i in such a position as illustrated in Fig. 5, there is still provided a channel for the water. In this instance, however, the mid dl-e forward rudder 25 cooperates with the outer starboard rudder 21 to form therewith a wall or partition forming one side of a channel 52 whose other side is formedby the middle rear rudder 21. With such a channel formed, the water will pass in the direction of the arrows 53, all as will be clear from Fig. 5. Likewise the middle aft rudder will form with the aft port or other outer rudder 21 a channel 54-.

In other words, due to the fact that all of the rudders are linked together and therewith the rearward rudderswater channels with a propeller therein said'channels 'being disposed below the bottom of the boat. It is obvious that those skilled in the art may Vary the details of construction as well as the arrangements of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefor it is not desired to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

What is claimed is 1. In a tow boat the combination of a plurality of chambers; a propeller located in each chamber; pair of rudders associated with each chamber; and an additional rudns'saeeo (ler longitudinal; disposed to one of the rudders in saidpair of rudders. V

2. In a tow boat the combination of a plurality of transversely disposed and longitudinally extending chambers the sides which terminate in a stern bottom lying in :a plane substantially parallel to and slight ly below the surface of the water; a pro-peller located in :each chamber; a pair of rudders associated with each chamber; and an additional rudder longitudinally disposed to one of the rudders in said pair of rudders.

In a tow heat the combination of a plurality of'ch-ambers whose centers .lie in the same transverse plane; apropel ler located in each chamber and in said plane; a pair of rudders associated with each chamber and mounted in said plane; and an additional rudder longitudinally disposed to one of said first named rudders and mounted in the plane passing substantially through the forward ends of said chambers and parallel to said first mentioned plane.

4. In a tow boat of the chambered type the combination of a plurality of transversely disposed and longitudinally extending chambers the sides of which terminate in a stern bottom lying in a plane substantially parallel to and slightly beneath the surface of the water; a plurality of aft rudders mounted in the transverse plane passing substantially through the centers of said chambers; a propeller located in each chamber and in the said transverse plane of said chambers and aft rudders; and a forward rudder coacting with one of the aft rudders to form a channel for the water set in motion by one of said propellers.

5. In a tow boat of the chamberedtype the combination of a plurality of transversely disposed and longitudinally extending chambers the sides of which terminate in a stern bottom lying in a plane substantially parallel to and slightly beneath the surface of the water but above the main bottom of the boat; a plurality of aft rudders disposed below said stern bottom but above the main bottom and mounted in the transverse plane passing substantially through the centers of said chambers; a propeller lo-' cated in each chamber and in the said transverse plane of said chambers and aft rudders; and a forward rudder coacting with one of the aft rudders to form a channel for the water set in motion by one of said pro-.

pellers.

6. In a tow boat of the chambered type the combination of a plurality of transverse 1y disposed and longitudinally extending chambers the sides of which terminate in a stern bottom lying in a plane substantially parallel to and slightly beneath the surface of the water; a plurality of aft rudders mounted in the transverse plane passing subtantially through the centers of said chambers; a propeller located in each cha'mber and "in the said transverse plane of said chambers and aft rudders; and a forward rudder mounted in the transverse plane passing substantially through the forward ends ,of the said chambers enacting with one of the aft rudders to form a c han-nel for the water set in motion by one of said propellers.

Y. In a tow boat of the cl'iambered type the combination of a plurality of transverse ly disposed and longitudinally extending chambers the side-s of which terminate in -a bottom lying in a plane substantially miralilel to and slightly beneath the surface of the water; an plurality of a ft rudders mounted in the transverse plane passing substantially through the centers of said chambers; a propeller located in each chamber and in the said transverse plane of said chambers and aft rudders; and a forward rudder mounted in the transverse plane passing substantially through the forward ends of the said chambers and in the same longitudinal plane with one of said aft rudders, said forward rudder coacting with one of the aft rudders to form a channel for the Ivater set in motion by one of said propelers. v

8. Ina tow boat of the chambered type, the combination with a plurality of chambers of a plurality of rudders mounted in transverse and longitudinal planes below" and adjacent said chambers; and a plurality of propellers, one in each chamber, each 100 propeller associated with a transverse pair of rudders to set in motion the water there between.

9. In a tow boat of the chambered type,

the combination with a plurality of chambers of a plurality of rudders mounted in a plurality of transverse and longitudinal planes below and adjacent said chambers one of said transverse planes passing subbers and the other transverse plane passing substantially through the forward ends of said chambers; and a plurality of propellers, one in each chamber, each propeller assostantially through the cen'ters of said chamciated with a transverse pair of rudders to set in motion thewater therebetween.

10. In a tow boat of the chambered type, the combination with a plurality of chambers of a plurality of rudders mounted in transverse and longitudinal planes below V and adjacent said chambers; and a plurality of propellers located within the outer longitudinal planes ofsaid rudders, one propeller in each chamber, each propeller associated with a transverse pair of rudders to set in motion the water therebetween.

11. In a tow boat of the chambered type, the combination with a plurality of chambers of a plurality of rudders mounted in transverse and longitudinal planes below and adjacent said chambers; and a plurality of propellers located in one of the transverse planes of said rudders, one in each chamber, each propeller associated with a transverse pair of rudders to set in motion the water therebetween.

12. In a tow boat of the chambered type, the combination with a plurality of charmbers of a plurality of propellers, one in each chamber, disposed in a transverse plane passing substantially through the centers of each chamber; and a plurality of rudders mounted in transverse and longitudinal planes below and adjacent said chambers, each rudder of one transverse plane coacting with one of the rudders in the other transverse plane to form a channel lor the Water set in motion by one of said propellers.

13. In a tow boat of the chambered type the combination of a plurality of aft rudders located in a transverse plane; a plurality of forward rudders located in a plane parallel to said transverse plane as Well as in the same longitudinal planes of said aft rudders; a plurality of chambers located above and between said aft rudders; and a propeller in each chamber to set in motion the Water therein as well as the water in the channel formed by the adjacent aft rudders and each associated forward rudder.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CHARLES E. WARD. 

